EDITOR’S COLUMN
The partnership between ECI and SFD was formalised in the presence of other senior officials from both the organisations
With a booming e-commerce market, and faster methods of fulfilment needed, motorbikes are becoming the machine of the moment.
Here is a figure for you; the global online food delivery market is set to surge to US$200 billion by 2025, according to Forbes. The Middle East revenues from just the food delivery market are expected to grow at an annual growth rate of 13.6%, resulting in a market volume of US$2.8-billion by 2023, a massive number.
With this huge growth comes the question of how to deliver these millions of plates of food every day. For many, motorbikes are an answer - but, with increased numbers of food delivery bikes comes increased pollution, adding 16,560 tonnes of CO2 per year, according to Adam Ridgeway of EV company OneMoto. That’s the equivalent to the CO2 produced by a 20,000 square foot warehouse or a 16 storey building (see page 37).
So, what’s the answer? At the moment, it seems that electric vehicles and electric bikes are the answer. They dramatically reduce the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere, but many still argue that the battery industry is equally as harmful to the environment. While experts agree the mining of rare earths, and materials for the manufacture of batteries is indeed harmful, they say that it is less harmful than the extraction and production of fossil fuels.
This may be correct - no process is fool proof and in this rapidly melting world, ‘better’ has to stand. It seems the only real way to stop hurting the environment is to use pedal bikes, row your boats, or hang-glide off mountains to deliver packages, none of which is a reality in this hyper-populated online shopping planet.
The Middle Eastern supply chain sector is booming as e-commerce gains popularity.
For our cover story this month, Fadi Amoudi, founder & CEO IQ Robotics , IQ Fulfillment & IQ Xpress talks Logistics Middle East through the role of his company in the technology for logistics field, and particularly e-fulfilment.
The United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have strengthened their economic partnership to enhance the trade, diversify and create opportunities for the businesses and people in both the countries.
Dr. Khaled Bin Sulaiman Al Khudairy, vice chairman and managing director of SFD said: “We are delighted to have collaborated with ECI. Since our launch in the 1970s, SFD has financed programmes in different economic sectors including education, health, transportation, agriculture, energy and water. Among SFD’s main objectives are to participate in financing to uplift projects in developing countries by granting them necessary loans, technical aids required for financing studies and institutional support as well as financing and guaranteeing the national non-oil exports. We believe our alliance with ECI will prove to be beneficial for the SME industries that will help to surpass the challenge of funds faced by SMEs.”
Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), the UAE Federal export credit company has partnered with the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) for financing and providing credit insurance to protect non-oil exports of the
UAE and Saudi Arabia. This collaboration marks a favourable step in strengthening the alliance between both countries, one that will enhance the emirate’s global competitiveness and widen the potentialities and opportunities for local businesses as well as the export and trading community.
The partnership between ECI and SFD was formalised in the presence of other senior officials from both the organisations.
“ECI’s partnership with SFD is forming when the UAE-Saudi Arabia relations are strengthening. The year 2020 has been announced as a ‘year of achievement’ by both the countries, aiming to work together to become one of the top economies in the world. ECI believes this partnership will boost the plans of both the economies. We are certain that the association with SFD will prove to be beneficial for UAE-based businesses as they will have access to new market, potential business market intelligence supported with ECI’s bespoke trade credit solutions to diversify their businesses,” Massimo Falcioni, CEO of ECI, said.
The key highlights of the alliance between the two institutions include sharing of work streams that include insurance, reinsurance and collections cooperation; Commercial information and credit opinion sharing; cooperation in technical training programs; Trade promotions; SME programs, among others.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia’s strong partnership is well evident in their long-term agendas—UAE’s Vision 2021 and Saudi Vision 2030—that aim to promote non-oil diversification and enhance economic growth and investment in the region. According to the UAE Ministry of Economy’s ‘Non-Oil Foreign Trade Relation Report between The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia’, the UAE’s nonoil export and re-exports trade volume to Saudi Arabia stood at AED 79.6 billion in 2018 up from AED 53.9 billion in 2017. The report also stated that the UAE’s trade volume to Saudi Arabia has increased by 32% in 2018.
The study, which will serve as a blueprint for future hyperloop projects, builds on the developers long-standing relationship with the Kingdom, which has peaked when His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, viewed Virgin Hyperloop One’s passenger pod during a visit to the United States.
The announcement is the latest in a series of existing partnership in the Kingdom that include MiSK Foundation, the Economic Cities Authority, as well as King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
His Excellency Eng. Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, Minister of Transport said, “His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has outlined the role of transport in shaping the future of the Kingdom’s economy within Vision 2030. As we enter a new decade, we intend to make rapid progress in building the infrastructure required to define mobility for the future, enabling the efficient movement of people and goods. With the transformative hyperloop technology, Saudi Arabia will not only unlock unparalleled benefits for its people and the economy but will continue to lead the region into an era of prosperity.”
The agreement forms the foundation for creating groundbreaking transportation infrastructure that will transform Saudi Arabia’s economy, enable the creation of jobs, and develop of further high-tech talent.
His Excellency Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, group chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DP World and chairman of Virgin Hyperloop One, said, “Technology will continue playing a pivotal role in the progress and transformation of Saudi Arabia’s economy – as part of this, Virgin Hyperloop One and the technology that underpins it will help shape the future of the Kingdom. Together with the Ministry of Transport, we are confident that hyperloop technology will transform the movement of people and cargo in Saudi Arabia and help realise the ambitions of Vision 2030. The evolution of hyperloop offers an unparalleled opportunity to shape a connected Saudi Arabia, linking cities and nations in the region via a variety of routes.
“The Virgin Hyperloop One system is real, rapid-speed, mass transportation. With the completion of more than 400 tests, VHO has positioned itself as the most viable option for investors, governments and businesses across the globe. Already, seventeen states in the United States are exploring potential hyperloop routes. In India, we recently reached a milestone for Virgin Hyperloop One, signing a landmark framework agreement to develop the Pune-Mumbai Hyperloop Project,” His Excellency added.
Having already attracted major investors from the UAE, including VHO’s main investor, DP World, a hyperloop system would see passengers travel at speeds exceeding 1,000km/h, cutting travel time from the capital to Jeddah to 46 minutes, a journey from Riyadh to Qiddiyah would take only five minutes. While a trip from Jeddah to Neom could be completed in 40 minutes, and from Riyadh to Abu Dhabi in only 48 minutes.
Speaking about the transformation potential of hyperloop technology in the Kingdom, Jay Walder, Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Hyperloop One, said, “In line with Vision 2030, I am confident we will see the world’s first commercial hyperloop within the decade. The Kingdom is on the forefront of this new era in transportation by being the first in the world to explore a national hyperloop route. The economic potential is enormous to connect passengers and cargo at unprecedented speeds with zero direct emissions. The system would be up to ten times more energy efficient than short haul flights and 50% more efficient than high-speed trains. In fact, a hyperloop in the region could be powered entirely by solar panels which cover the tube, making the technology hugely attractive to the sun-abundant Kingdom.”
Harj Dhaliwal, managing director for the Middle East and India, Virgin Hyperloop One, noted that: “This new agreement with the Ministry of Transport in Saudi Arabia brings us one step closer to the realisation of our vision for a ‘Connected Saudi Arabia’ and a ‘Connected Gulf’. As the country’s leadership embraces new and innovative technologies VHO is uniquely positioned as a forward-thinking transportation partner, engineered for the twenty-first century. VHO can connect major hubs in the country, and potentially the entire region, which supports the leadership’s renewed effort to propel the Kingdom’s economy to the forefront of innovation.”
The Ministry of Transport (MoT) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, announced a contract agreement with Virgin Hyperloop One (VHO), the world’s leading hyperloop company. Under the partnership, VHO will conduct a groundbreaking pre-feasibility study on the use of hyperloop technology for the transport of passengers and cargo, laying the groundwork for a network of hyperloop routes to be considered across Saudi Arabia. The study is the Ërst at a national level to be carried out anywhere in the world and will examine viable routes, expected demand, anticipated costs and explore the socio-economic beneËts of creating jobs and develop high-tech skills.